From The Top
by Enn1995
Summary: My self insert that I plan to be realistic and not overpowered. My character will develop reasonably and any relationships will be done over time. It's going to be an accurate portrayal to what I would do if I were thrown into the RWBYverse
1. Chapter 1

It's the only thought i could muster up at that given moment, the sun going through my eyes, even though they were closed.

I was just in bed, where am I? I reach out to shield my eyes before opening them, finding myself on a beach. My heart freezes, I was just in Tennessee, and the closest beach was Myrtle Beach, which was a good five hours away. Confusion sprouted up in my mind, and right after that was a sense of dread.

I was to my feet in a few seconds, looking around frantically. The only thing I could see was the stretching forest behind me, the ocean situated in front of me. Someone had taken me, but why? And why to a beach? It didn't make any sense. I was breathing heavily, sweat starting to break out on my head. I needed to calm down immediately and find out where the hell I was exactly.

That wasn't exactly easy, I lived nowhere close to an ocean and I had no identifying landmarks to go by. So I did basically the only thing I could do. I walked into the forest, my eyes set straight ahead. I'd have to look for water, and follow it upstream to find any kind of civilization.

I searched the pockets of my jacket (Which also appeared from thin air.) and pulled out my wallet, phone, and mp3. After turning my phone on, I was met by the sign of no signal at all, and the gps having no idea where the hell I was. I put the phone back into my pocket with a sigh. I knew I had nothing in the short pockets I was wearing, Because I really carried nothing in them, but I checked to make sure.

My eyebrows raised when I pulled out a small box. The feeling of this box being here was new, because just a couple of seconds ago, I felt nothing in my pockets. At this point, I was getting weirded out by all of this, my mind having a hard time catching up with what was happening around me.

I looked down at the box and lifted the lid off slowly. There were a couple of things waiting for me when I opened it, the first being a couple of pieces of paper, the next being a stack of bills I had a bit of an issue recognizing. I took a look at the bills first and noticed the odd looking man and Ls situated on it. This must've been the currency whatever country I was in used.

Another shock down my spMy eyes are hurting. Really bad.

ine. I was in another country. The panic rose again but I stomped it down quickly, taking the bills and shoving them in my aforementioned empty wallet.

The next item on the list was the papers. The first one I opened was a map. It was of a world, the familiarity of the continents striking me. I was getting more and more spooked as the seconds ticked on. So I used my only coping strategy and looked at the next paper.

The paper was written in cursive and held a paragraph I didn't have time to read before my hands froze where they were. I was all of a sudden enveloped by the feeling of something wrapping itself around me like a blanket. I fell at this point, the new feelings taking over every bit of energy I had in my body.

I laid on the ground for a few minutes before getting back to my knees, my breath still being recovered after being ripped away from me like that. I had no idea what was remotely going on, and I intended to find out, quick.

I gathered my wits and grabbed the papers below me again, my hands shaking as I read the paper.

**CONGRATULATIONS ON UNLOCKING YOUR AURA, HAVE FUN.**

Putting the paper down again, I sighed. It said I have now gained an aura and that struck a chord of familiarity within me, one big enough to spark a fire of recognition in my gut.

If what I was suspecting was correct, I was stuck in Remnant. But that's impossible, right? I mean, I've read stories about situations like that, but that's all they were. Stories. As if to pull me from my panic, my light red, almost pink aura flared up, sending it's energy throughout my body once again. I grabbed my head with both hands. If I was stuck in the woods someplace on Remnant, that meant I was able to become food for the Grimm. My eyes widened. The Grimm.

The Grimm in the show were known to be bloodthirsty killing machines, holding over half of the world. That meant there was a very good chance I was in their territory. I shot back up to my feet, my senses jumping to a confusing degree. So if I was to put the pieces of the situation together, I was stuck in a show's world, with nothing but my out of shape body, a map, some useless junk and my aura.

That was another albeit slight advantage I had in this situation, my aura was unlocked, which means by what I've read and seen, my semblance should be unlocked too. But the only issue with the semblance dilemma was that I had no friggin idea how the actual hell I was supposed to find out what it is, let alone use it. My mind was still trying to catch up with what was happening, but I did come up with a makeshift to do list if I wanted a chance at survival.

The first was to make a weapon, a spear, a club, it didn't really matter all that much, just something to defend myself with since running wasn't really an option for my chunky body. The second was to craft something to carry items in. I wasn't planning on sticking around in one place too long, my main focus being on getting to a village or one of the four kingdoms. The third was to start trying to unlock my semblance, any advantage I could possibly get was needed sorely. So with a final look around, I trudged forwards towards the woods, hoping that all of this may be some sick prank.

A couple hours had passed at this point, me having lost my breath due to my smoking habit back home. If things were going the way they were now, then I was going to die, quick. Finding a tree to slump down against, I rested my back, the makeshift spear I had beaten down with a rock helping me support myself.

Night time had nearly fallen, and I wasn't liking my chances in a forest filled with black creatures at night. So I went over my priorities again, looking around for any place to hole up. If I could get to a spot where my back was against the wall and encloses on three sides, I'd be golden. I knew what I had just described was a cave, and proceeded forwards. I still needed the bag, but it could wait for now.

So with a heavy breath, a stood up and continued onwards.

The night in this world was unconditionally dark. I had found myself a place to stay for the night, a dim cave shelter about ten feet deep. I didn't have the luxury of caring about the bugs crawling on me. I leaned my head back against the rock wall, sighing deeply.

This was getting hard and it hadn't even been a full day since my arrival.

Not all things were bad, though. I had learned a couple of things about my aura, the first being that i was immune to brush scraping up against my leg. The second being I could use my finger instead of a rock to work on my spear, the aura coating it and making it harder against the soft wood. The third was what was letting me see in the dark here. If i focused on the warmth the aura gave, it began to glow, emitting a dim red light.

I focused on trying to find my semblance, using every breathing technique I could think of. I thought I almost had a hit when my aura flared suddenly but it came just as fast as it went. Deciding to turn in, I dimmed the light some more and laid down on the cold rock floor.

This gave me time to think about my family. A spike of pain went through my chest at the thought. I had no idea if I was going to see them again or not. A tear rolled down my cheek just as i shook myself off. I can't afford to be sad now, I can do that later when I have survived.

I saw my first grimm the next day.

I was walking through the woods when it appeared. I wasn't able to recognize it at first, it's body consisting of black smoke. I slunk down and tried my best to be quiet. I figured that if I could get past it, I'd be golden.

I scanned it's body and identified it as a beowulf, a more common type of grimm which carried themselves in packs. Sweat peaked on my brow. If these things decided to sniff me out, they would definitely kill me.

So i wasted no time ducking and trying to keep myself composed, as to not attract them to me. It was a slow and painful couple minutes before I finally got distance in between us. When I was absolutely sure I was out of range, I heaved a sigh of relief. My wooden spear might be able to hurt it, but if anymore were to come out, then I'd be screwed all to hell.

I rose up on my shaking feet and continued onward.


	2. Making Progress

**Been confused where I wanna take this, but I think I've got a direction I want to go with it. This chapter will seem rushed because I needed to get some necessary plot points out of the way.**

**Reviews would be greatly appreciated.**

**And a thanks to TJTV and rosariorwbyfan for following and favoriting. I hope this chapter meets your expectations.**

**Till next time.**

The following days were spent doing the same thing, finding food, gathering ingredients for my pack and trying to find out what my semblance was. Today was also the first time I found out aura's tendency to try and shape it's user.

I was fairly overweight when I got here about a week ago, but now, I could see myself slimming. Not at dramatic levels, but decent enough to make me raise an eyebrow. I had thought that maybe the food situation had contributed to my weight loss, but that was thrown out the window when I saw my stomach retracting in two days.

I had also felt the full impact of my nicotine withdrawal the day before, feeling nauseous and running a fever. I was barely over it now, stumbling through the woods some more. I had upgraded the spear, too, bashing a rock down to a point and tying it to the pole, creating a much more effective spear.

I could tell it was gonna be a couple of weeks before I saw any sign of civilization. It had been a miracle I made it this far, but if you aren't feeling sorry for yourself, grimm tend to ignore you. I could feel the traces of my beard coming back and cringed a bit. My hair had always been red, but the beard was always blonde, making a horrible mismatch of colors. I wondered if it would actually grow on my chin instead of my neck this time.

I think I had found my semblance, and it wasn't what I was expecting. I had been going along my usual routine, walking and looking when it snuck up on me. The boarbatusk launched itself from it's hiding spot and almost killed me, if not for me turning quickly, a weird sensation coming throughout my body before the boar was nowhere to be seen. I turned around, to see it recovering from what had just happened. I was no different, but I snapped myself from my stupor to lunge at it with the spear and bring it down on it's head. It died, but my spear broke in the process, making me groan as the wood fell to the ground as it disappeared into smoke. If it hadn't been for the mysterious heightening of my reflexes, the damn thing would've ended my life.

I feel backwards as my breath had the urge to just stop working at the moment. I began to pick apart what had just happened. First off, I had just used what I thought was my semblance, second was the fact that my spear was now broken. So from these two issues, I needed to come up with a plan. There was no way that little scuffle didn't draw more attention.

I got up from the ground and brushed my tattered shorts off. I needed to get a new weapon, and I needed to make it sturdier. I also needed to test my semblance, see what it could do and take it from there. The leaves crunched underneath my shoes as I walked forwards.

….

It had been a few weeks later at this point and I had made considerable progress, the most notable of it being that I had found a village.

It first came into view when I was had just got finished at killing a straying beowulf. Killing the things had become easier ever since I had unlocked my semblance. My body was now vastly different from where I began, the occasional scar from where a grimm would hit me, I was far from ready to compete in a huntsman environment. But otherwise, I was now slim, the fat being virtually gone in just over two months walking through the woods. I had a feeling I would be getting toned here soon, but time would tell. My beard had also grown in by now, thankfully growing on my chin. The blonde hair was now covering my face and beginning to need a bad shaving.I kept it clean as best as I could. My red hair was getting longer, but not at the rate of the beard, which pleased me a lot.

Speaking of time, I had found out somewhat how my semblance worked. I only felt the sensation of my semblance coming over when I fought a grimm. So that's exactly what I did. I hunted down stray grimm and seized the chance to use the power, eventually being able to replicate the feeling and activating it whenever I had pleased. The testing part came afterwards. I had originally thought that it was intangibility power until I noticed how things seemed to move forward suddenly. I rested this by picking up a rock and dropping it again and again, watching it seemingly teleport to the ground. From there, I put the pieces together.

I could move forward in time. At first, I was astounded, but I reigned it in when I found out it only went a second or two at most. It didn't really matter, because the grimm could no longer lunge and strike without eating dirt. This made my ability to kill grimm exponentially easier. I could kill a whole two beowulfs without dying now. The spear I had now was stronger than the last. I used thicker wood, therefore, more resistance.

I had come into the sight of the village when I crossed a stream and basically ran to it. The people looked at me like a madman while I spoke in my unused voice, asking where I could get a shower.

They pointed me to a small building at the end of the road, which happened to be an inn. I approached the counter and basically slapped the bill down on wood, asking for a good room. The man's eyes looked at the bill and he took it, giving me some coins and giving me a key.

I walked into the room, took off my clothes and washed myself clean in the shower for a good forty five minutes. I proceeded to also hand wash the clothes, sitting naked for a few hours before I put them back on and walked down, asking if they had any restaurants. I was pointed down the street to a bar and walked in, ignoring the eyes on me.

As I walked up to the counter, the bartender raised an eyebrow. "Look like you've seen a lot." He said. Even if i cleaned myself, I still looked ragged. So I looked up in earnest and nodded my head. "Been in a sticky situation for a while now. I just want some food that isn't fish. " The man nodded and walked back, telling someone something before He came back with a burger and fries. Some things never did change with liked meals,

As I was eating, a man came in and sat beside me, asking the bartender for some alcohol. I didn't pay him any mind until he addressed me. "I ain't seen you round here before. Student on a hunting trip" I gazed over and sized up the man. He had a kind looking face, worn down by his age, covered in a blonde beard and medium length hair. He was wearing a suit which looked like a modernized knight getup. At his hip sat a sword, on which an emblem sat. The emblem seemed familiar and I was having trouble trying to remember where I had seen it.

His face fell a bit before he spoke again. "Oh, how rude of me, I haven't even introduced myself. I'm a pretty famous huntsman around these parts. The Name's Nick, Nick Arc." At this, he held out his hand, but my heart had stopped. I remembered now. The emblem, the sword, and the name. This was Jaune Arc's father.


	3. Yee haw

**Please review. I am trying to improve and any advice is appreciated.**

**...**

The man in front of me proceeded to stare at me oddly. Not that I could blame him, as my face was contorted into surprise by now. I hadn't once expected the plot or some unknown force to push me into Jaune Arc's fucking village. It hadn't even been shown as much as my knowledge goes, but I could've been wrong, as I had only gotten up to volume four before my interest passed. The man in front of me, however, was exactly like I expected him to be. Blonde, messy hair, a thin beard and bright blue eyes. It was like I was looking at a picture of Jaune if he got older and wiser in his time. He had some kind of armor on, but it wasn't what Jaune would wear, instead of being white it was steel all the way around, making Crocea Mors stick out like a sore thumb on his body. He reminded me way more of a knight than Jaune did.

In the midst of my breakdown, I felt a hand land atop my shoulder, my mind immediately snapping back to it. My hand almost moved on it's own before I realized I was no longer in the woods and my oddly heightened senses needed to calm the fuck down. I looked at the steel gauntlet rested on my shoulder and followed it back to the worried set of eyes coming from the man in the front of me. He stared for a second before he ended up speaking. "You alright, boy?" He asked, his eyes roving over my utterly ragged outfit. How he didn't notice was beyond me. I shook my head and looked back down at the countertop. "Yeah, just been out in the woods for a bit."

'In another world with nothing but the clothes on my back and my aura to guide me' I was tempted to add, but held back. I looked enough like a bum as it was, no need to make it worse. I could see his eyebrow raise as I looked down at the food and drink I hadn't even noticed before. As soon as I saw it I began to utterly devour the contents of the meal, and in less than a minute it was almost gone.

When I looked back at the Arc Patriarch, his eyes were now way sharper than before, and staring right at my otherwise clueless face. "For how long?" He asked, his concerned voice betraying his threatening face. I could claim to be a lot of things. Resilient, creative, maybe even a little competent in combat against Grimm, but one thing I was apparently not claim to be was good with interrogations, so I had no doubt that I looked stupid when I squeaked out an answer. "Just a bit." I proceeded to say as fast I my lips would let me. There was practically no chance of him believing that bullshit and his face confirmed my suspicions. He was now looking at me with a softer gaze. This man was the only person who could throw me in nineteen different directions at once.

"Have you got anywhere to stay?" He asked softly and I almost spit out the drink I was currently sipping on. I quickly recovered in a vain attempt to make myself look like a capable man and looked up at him again from the countertop. My answer was nice and simple. "I'm staying at the inn down the street." His face morphed into concern. "James' Inn? He is the last person you want to go to around here. He'll suck you dry of all your lien!" This time it was me raising an eyebrow, if this was headed where I thought it was headed I had a lot of questions to whoever threw me into this madhouse.

I responded simply and honestly. "I wouldn't know that, I have no idea what Lien is worth around here." I expected him to roll his eyes, but he huffed instead. "Geez boy, how long have you been in the forests?" This time I wasn't gonna lie. "Bout two months, why?" It seemed almost immediately I would come to regret the decision I had made at this point, as he was now thinking hard with his hand upon his chin. His eyes seemed to brighten and mine darkened. I knew where this was going and it was going to be a load of horseshit.

"Say, you can stay with us until you're out and about."

And there it was. The offer. I had half a mind to shoot the man down, but I was getting the sinking suspicion that even if i did, I'd still end up in one of the main character's houses. Better Jaune's than Nora's. He seemed to catch me in the middle of my thoughts because once again, he put his gloved hand on my shoulder. Something was telling me this was a habit of his. He didn't give me a chance to talk before he did so.

"Oh come on, I'm sure my children would love you. Besides, do you really want to waste all of your Lien on a hotel room?" He sounded more like a salesman at this point and I was having a hard time figuring out why he would invite a man that looked like he just came from war into his household, even if I was destined to become 'teh harem overlord mastur of sords'. I was still confused on the amount of generosity a man could be showing to a stranger.

I caught myself being silent for too long before I made up my mind on a whim. "Tell ya what, let me run and get some stuff and I'll be sure to take you up on that offer." I made the mistake of holding out my hand so he could wrap it in his and utterly annihilate my bones.

After the handshake I went to stand before he stopped me with a yell. I turned to find him smiling once again, and being as confused as I was, I rose my eyebrow. "Never did catch your name." He said politely.

Oh yeah, a name. I had not even thought about any of the specifics of what I needed to do when I got here, being too focused on finding a way out of the woods. I quickly tried to think of a name and settled on the name Graham Keep. I once again smiled back at the man and repeated my name and he quickly thanked me, giving me the address to his place and sending me off.

What I did however, neglect to tell him that my name was based off of the first thing with a color I could think of, and that was a god damned graham cracker. I resigned myself to the name I chose and decided to carry on. It wasn't like it was an inherently bad name, just a stupid origin.

I decided I was gonna pick up some new clothes while I was down there, and so I made my way to the only general store in about as far as I could see. So with a sigh, I walked towards the store and stopped in front of it. I didn't even bother to read the overly stylized wording on the sign hanging above the door as I opened the rickety door.

A bell chimed as I walked into the shop, it's smell strongly reminding me of cedar. It took me a good few seconds to take in the small store that looked like it came from an old western. I took my time as I looked at the surprisingly modern items on the shelves, and my eyes narrowed at the clear slab of what looked like glass with some weird looking edges on the top and bottom. For a second it reminded me of a tablet and that was when the realization of what I was looking at hit me. It was a scroll. This universe's version of a phone. I stared at the thing in wonder before picking it up and looking at it closer. It felt like regular glass, and had the weight of one. I knew these things could fold but I wasn't testing my luck anytime soon.

Before I could turn it on I heard an old stubborn voice behind me. "If you ain't payin then put it down." I looked over my shoulder and sighed. I most likely could get it but at the cost of my clothes, so with great reluctance I set the thing back down and went into the area where clothes were hanging. I chose a very simple attire, A black jacket, white T-shirt. And blue jeans. I spent some money on some boots too.

When I caught sight of myself in the mirror I realized some very important things were missing. I was wearing all of these clothes, but with my beard and long ass hair I knew exactly what I could do to finish off the look.

I smiled at myself later when I walked back in and admired myself. I had tied my hair back and was now wearing a pair of sunglasses. The thing that set the tone, however, was resting on my head, and what it was made me laugh at myself for a few minutes. It was a black stetson hat.

I looked pretty good in it, with my lost weight and my beard, so I decided this was gonna be my purchase. I didn't leave without whispering an obligatory yee haw to myself first. The clerk's face changed when he realized who was handing him the lien for the clothes, looking me up and down before smiling. "Looks better." He said approvingly, and for once in my life I couldn't really find it in myself to disagree with him.

I paid for my clothes and a basic duffel bag before I left and ended up back out on the street, but this time looking like a country singer. I looked around for a minute before I finally decided to go on to the library and try to catch up on some of the lore I'd missed.

The walk down the street was uneventful enough, only a couple passing looks from people walking around and it remained that way as I made my way into the library. What greeted me when I entered was not what I expected. I expected to see some lights or something but what I saw looked more like a dungeon than a library. Candles lined the walls and I was basically choking on the dust lingering in the air. The books looked even worse, like something I'd see out of a museum but what got me the most was the lady sitting behind the old desk….on a computer. That almost got me for a second before I realized just where I was. I approached the counter, my boots clomping on the wooden floor before I stopped in front of it.

At this point, I took off my sunglasses. I might think I look cool in them but in a place like this, I was basically blinding myself. After I stuffed them in my jacket pocket, I looked back to see the middle aged lady smiling at me from the desk. "Uh, can you point me to the history section?" I asked with the grace of a screaming duck. Her eyes lit up as she pointed at the back of the Library. I thanked her and proceeded to make my way back, scanning the books before choosing one labelled. "History of Remnant, Picture edition." I probably looked stupid picking it up but I had no idea what ancient civilizations looked like. So with a sigh, I looked around and found a table to start reading at. I sat down and opened the book.

….

I stumbled out onto the road, sunglasses in place again. It had been daunting, reading the history of a world which you just dropped into. All the names and wars had blended together into a mess of information that gave me a headache. I resolved to finish the task of lore reading later.

I made my way back to the Inn and stomped my way up the stairs, hearing a whistle come my way from downstairs. It didn't help my headache, but at least someone thought I looked good. The door to my room swung open and I took stock of everything I needed to go over to the Arc's place and came up with the soap and shit from the bathroom and my spear. So with great pride, I shoved the soap and shampoo into my bag before grabbing my spear and proceeding back down the stairs, walking through the entrance, a disappointing lack of any whistling present.

The streets were becoming far too familiar for my tastes as I looked at the address the old Arc gave me. I sighed before I began my journey down each of the four roads, sighing at the pure inconvenience.

….

I approached the humble looking house and stood out in the front of it. It was less than I was expecting but still cozy, the log cabin being a decent size and the garden in the front even more pretty.

I debated how I would greet the person who answered when I knocked. Did I have to introduce myself as one of his friends, or something else entirely?

Unfortunately, that question was answered when something hit the back of my head, sending my body tumbling a few feet forwards into the door. My aura took most of the hit, but that didn't mean I hadn't gotten a mouthful of dirt with it, or that my hat and sunglasses were spared. I really hoped the weren't broken.

I looked up at my attacker and raised my eyebrow when I saw the young girl in front of me, blonde hair and blue eyes shining out, standing in a fighting stance. This had to be one of the sisters, and as I stood up I held out my hands, trying to calm her down. "Look, I'm just here to talk to Nick." I tried to reason but the girl's eyes narrowed even further.

"Like I'm going to believe that. " She scoffed. "Some cowboy comes in carrying a spear and a bag and just wants to talk? Not a chance." She dragged her foot back in the dirt. "And that's not even mentioning the fact that your aura is unlocked." She tightened her fists and flashed me a cocky grin. "It's been awhile since I've gotten a good punching bag, so I'll just use you instead."

I realized where this was going and rolled my eyes. I could fight a grimm easily enough, but this girl looked both faster and older than me, so I was pretty sure I was gonna get thrashed. Breathing in, I raised my fists and cracked my neck. I wasn't about to back down to a person wanting to kick my ass for existing, and my semblance should've allowed me a couple shots in. She smiled once again and ran forward, jumping into the air with her leg aimed at me. I was about to call upon the power stirring in my gut before a grey flash went through the air and in one second, my attacker was gone.

I looked over a couple feet away, and saw the old Arc holding his daughter in a headlock. "Is this how you greet people, Lizzie?!" She didn't seem to dignify that with a response, instead kicking and trying to bite through his armor. My shoulders slumped and the realization of just how much of an exhausting night I was about to have.


	4. Dinner Time

**I am looking for beta readers! I do realize I have a lot of room to improve and having a beta would immensely help that. Also please do leave a review. They help me see what I did wrong and allow me to correct it in the next chapter.**

I was beginning to learn fairly quick why Jaune was weary around large groups of women, and at this point, I couldn't blame him.

When I had walked in after the whole Arc sister fiasco, I was greeted by people of various ages, the group being mostly women, except for one man who I had almost instantly spotted. I thought I had prepared myself for this point, but I was wrong. What was supposed to be a relatively regular dorky looking teen was sending my mind through a spin of thoughts. I had always blown off what was happening around me as some sort of passing thing, never once taking the time to realize that I was stuck in a world I only saw in an anime.

This was real. I was not having a dream, I was not hallucinating, and I sure as hell hoped I wasn't in a coma. That meant I had knowledge. Knowledge that could help. That could save many lives. The weight of what exactly I was put into was now on my shoulders. I had to turn my gaze somewhere else, because Jaune caught me staring. I would think about this later.

I was introduced to the rest of the people, and I felt a little bad when I realized that there was no way in hell I was going to memorize their names. Just too much at one time. After that, I was taken into the dining room where I was seated on the far end of the table, Nick on one side and One of his daughters, the tall one, Aurora. I put my hat down at the side of the table and scratched my itching head. Wearing a hat for so long after not wearing one at all did things to your scalp.

Food was brought out and I quickly said my thanks. I had to restrain myself from shoving my head into the plate head first. This was my second meal after the forest. As I ate conversation arose around the table, and I opted to keep my mouth shut. Nick might have thought I was good but I didn't trust myself to not spill something important.

"So, how's the food?" Nick's wife, Jane looked at me with a questioning gaze. She could try and fool Nick all she pleased but I knew she was weary of me. Not that I blamed her. If my husband brought in a total stranger I'd be asking questions too. I pondered on what exactly to say at this point. The food was amazing to me, but saying that outright might make her think I'm lying or some shit, and I really did not want that.

"It's pretty good." I said in as neutral as a voice as I could. This stuff really was good, so good that I was worried I was getting poisoned at this point. All eyes at the table were on me at this point, each with their own questioning gaze. I figured I'd had enough of dancing around the subject. "So, y'all have questions, I assume." I looked at the mixture of just straight nods and looks of people who didn't know what to to say. I leaned back and stared down the group, hoping I wouldn't regret what I was gonna say next. "So ask away."

The mixture of looks I got were worrying at first. The silence stretching across the table lasted until the girl who kicked me in the back of the head, Lizzie her name was, spoke up.

"Who are you?" She said in one of the most interrogative tones I have ever heard. Her question was the most straightforward thing I had seen since I had landed on this planet. She looked at me almost expectantly after that, and I guess I could understand why. So I decided I was gonna give em the rundown and ask their own questions.

A couple of minutes passed and I told my story, leaving out a few things and saying I was raised in an orphanage over in Vacuo. I told them about how I decided I was gonna become stronger by going out into the woods and I ended up getting stuck out there for a couple of months. I had gotten substantially stronger, but still not strong enough to even hope to fight someone at even Ruby's level. I told them about how I ended up in their village and how I ended up here.

I got an assortment of looks around the table, some being shocked and others more annoyed. It was to be expected, since Nick was now scowling at me from his position.

"Mind telling me how old you are, boy?" Nick asked leaning over the table, hands clasped.

My mind went blank for a moment, and then proceeded to hit overdrive to come up with an answer for that question. I was 18, but I could easily pass as 17, or even 16. But that was even if I even wanted to go to Beacon. I was in no position to join a huntsmen school but what was I going to do here, exactly? I couldn't sit back and watch what was about to happen unfold.

"Sixteen, bout to hit 17." I lied. I had told them my name was Graham Keep after all so this wasn't really that far off. I watched his gaze narrow a bit further and I immediately knew how he kept the girls here in control. I felt a shiver run straight down my spine and it seemed the rest of them knew what was coming, because they each withdrew into themselves as well, even Lizzie looking a little less mean.

"So what you are trying to tell me." He continued. I wanted to curl up into myself but forced myself to sit up straight. "That you, a sixteen year old, went out into the woods with nothing for going on three months, and comes out with enough Lien to buy that outfit."

My eyes widened a bit. I had no idea how to explain the Lien part of it. I had found it in that stupid box on the beach I woke up on and thought nothing of just shoving it into my pocket. I had never come up with just how I would explain the stack of Lien and right now I had one explanation and I was gonna try it, even if it cost me.

"Would you believe me if I told you I got that money from a box on the beach?" I leaned up and tried to look my most confident, but just ended up looking stupid. Nick, however didn't seem very impressed, if his flat look was a good thing to go by. Can't say I didn't try.

"I doubt that, but in the end, it really isn't any of my business." He seemed like he wanted to say more, but chose not to. His demeanor changed again, more to a shrug than anything else. I basically sagged with relief when he was finished grilling me, and it seemed like one of the sisters noticed because the little one laughed at me, earning her the best glare I could muster up at the moment.

"One other thing." He added on, right as I was about to get back to living my life without risk of a heart attack.

"How did you manage to survive out there." His eyes were questioning more than accusatory.

"I saw my daughter kick you without you noticing, and when you went to fight you put up one of the sloppiest stances I have seen. She is beginner level, but still got you." He said it matter of factly, his hand waving to Lizzie.

Ouch. That one hit me in my pride, but he did have a point. I survived off of tricking monster that had no other instincts than to fight. Even then, I was only strong enough to fight one at a time. I figured I had some sort of stupid plot armor from being transferred over here and that's what allowed me to get through the woods. I could still hold my own in a fair fight, I knew how to take a hit, the jagged scar from a Boarbatusk goring me in the chest still there from where even the aura hadn't completely healed being proof of that.

"Aura." I said bluntly. I had no idea what else to say, so I decided on saying the only answer I had, which drew some very confused looks from the people around me. I was telling the truth. If my aura had not been unlocked when it had then I would have surely died out there.

That was the last question of value before they each asked their own questions, even the baby made noises at me and looked at me expectantly. I ended up just telling them about the people I knew with some adjustments in between. It went on for a bit before each of them went their separate ways and Jaune was assigned to take me to their guest room. Which was basically a spare bed with about three other children in there with me.

He stopped in front of the bed and looked down at it unceremoniously. "That's where you'll sleep. Both Lizzie and Saphron share this room, so I'd have to watch out for their arguments. Jaune was not how he acted when I had seen him. Instead of being his typical dorky self, it seemed like something was weighing on the back of his mind, and I could probably take a wild guess at what it was. I would need to find out how to falsify transcripts before Beacon started so I could get my ass in there and try to do something about the shitshow that was gonna show up.

"Thanks, I think I'm gonna go for a walk, tell Nick I'll be back soon if he needs me." I didn't wait for the answer before I walked past him and out the front door. I needed some time to think to myself. Because I was gonna have to make some really hard decisions here soon, and I don't know what effect that might have on the world. Hell, for all I know, being here might've stopped Jaune from ever attending.

This world was about to face a war greater than any mankind had faced and here I was, smack dab in the middle of the mess. The first thing I thought when I got here is that I could save Pyrrha, but at what cost? Call me selfish, but I would be blown away by Cinder in my current state, so the only option I had was to get stronger. How though? I can't tell you. I don't even know what weapon would fit, but I knew it wasn't the spear. I could barely handle that thing without it slipping my grip.

I somehow ended up on top of a cliff, looking down over the woods I had just come from. I really didn't belong here. I was in the wrong place the wrong level of time and space, but if I was here, that meant that there was a reason behind it. Sure, I could've chalked it up to a mere coincidence, but that note threw that out the window. So why was I here? What was my purpose? I looked a hell of a lot better than I did a couple months ago. I was a fat kid with nothing to do, but now I looked like I could smile at myself in the mirror, and this was the first time I hadn't felt insecure about my beard. It was hanging off of my face now like some kind of dude in a bush community, but I didn't really care.

"You gonna jump?" Came a very forceful female voice and I knew who it was. Lizzie. While she had made me jump from fear, I was not planning on actually jumping.

I turned to look at her to see her in her pajamas, which were just a T-shirt and shorts that you'd see on any girl. She looked cute but she had to be like two or three years younger than me. And besides, I'm not here for women.

"I saw you pondering existence when I tried to go to bed." She pointed upwards at a window that I had failed to notice before. Besides, it was like eight o clock, this was awfully early to be going to bed. I shook it off anyway, what this girl did, she did without asking, and as far as I was concerned, I really didn't care.

"Yeah, being in a foreign place tends to wear on your mind." I said, looking back to the horizon, the moon just beginning to rise.

"Back home, all we had was sand and scorpions to look at." I blatantly lied, I needed to keep up an appearance. "So seeing all these trees from up here is unusual for me. I spun on my boot's heel and looked at her. "But I doubt you came out here to stare at some trees, so what are ya here for? To kick me again?"

Her face split into a grin and she looked me up and down. "Nah, I just got a favor to ask you." I blinked at her. "I have no idea who you really are, or what your goal is here, but I can tell you know my brother."

My eyebrow raised and she continued. "You were staring at him when you first met him, you wouldn't stop peeking at dinner and I saw the way you stood kinda still around him." She stepped closer to me. "At first I didn't know what to think, but as you continued, I realized you know him from somewhere." She was getting really close and I could already feel the gut punch. "So my favor is for you to tell me what you know about my brother."

From here, I was in between a rock and a hard place. I had no idea what to say to her. I couldn't deny it, but at the same time I couldn't come up with a good enough excuse, so I went with the only thing I could think of at the moment.

"I don't know him." Lizzie eyed me for about ten seconds before I spoke up. I was gonna regret this. I knew I was, and this would haunt me until the day I die, but there was no way I was telling her the truth.

"I like your brother"

"What!?"

And for the record. I did NOT like him.

**Thanks for reading! I can already tell the next chapter is gonna be fun to write. And to the reviewer, I thank you, you gave me a lot of good points to work on! Until next time!**


	5. Genesis

Silence.

Cursed silence.

I wished she had said something instead of sitting there slack jawed like she currently was. I had dug myself into a hole. A pretty deep one to be exact.

What was I even thinking, blurting out that I had the hots for her brother? I'm not even on that side of the fence.

She was now turning a little red and I prepared myself for the onslaught of pervert accusations.

I instead felt my face make contact with her hand. The pain was very little considering the fact that I had aura (which I still find hard to wrestle with.) but it was enough to make my mouth reach into a gape.

"Just how stupid do you think I am?!" She screeched at me.

That's when I looked around and saw just how mad she was.

She was red faced and shaking. I felt the urge to step back just looking at her. I stood there and I thanked God I was stupid enough to wear my sunglasses in the dark otherwise she would've seen my eyes widening. Still didn't hide my jaw.

"You think I'm gonna believe that after the way you leered at my sister?! I'm not some dumb little girl!"

That was apparent.

What else was I supposed to say? 'Oh Im from a world where your brother is a character in a show and had shellshock from seeing him in actual flesh and interacting with him. Another thing was why was she so mad? It wasn't like I threatened her or her family. I could see her being annoyed by it but mad? That was something else.

So me, in my infinite wisdom told her to calm down.

I apparently forgot the number one rule of anyone who's mad ever.

Never tell someone to calm down.

"You want me to calm down after you just barge into my home and act all weird? You come here with a primitve looking spear and a look on your face like you don't even know what's happening! Not only that, but you look at my brother like he's some kind of alien and avoid him like the plague! You are hiding something you know about us and the rest are too dumb to say it!"

Oh.

I got it.

In multiple stories I read of different ways protagonists keep their secrets hidden but I clearly missed every rule in that handbook.

She was right, most people think they would be cool in this type of situation but they don't remember the fact that something reality defying is happening. I found it kind of hard not to scream when I saw Jaune, only because it confirmed my situation.

So I screwed up and acted like an idiot.

That left me with one option.

Leave.

A somewhat sudden choice, but one I had to choose, because this would get around the house if I had any clue how close this family was.

I had messed up here and when I eventually did enter the scene I would feel the consequences through Jaune, but that was my screwup.

It was time to man up and be honest for once.

"Listen, if I was to tell you what I've been through this past month you would laugh, but I know some things I probably shouldn't. I don't wish harm on you or your family, but I can see that if I stick around, it's only gonna cause more confusion, and the last thing I want to do is make this more complicated than it already is."

Her expression softened at that. Her eyes searched mine through the glasses for signs of a lie. She eventually relaxed herself and let her arms fall to the side. We stood in that place for a good minute or two before she spoke again.

"Who are you?" I could see the want for the truth in her eyes, and that honestly set her apart from the rest. She was outgoing and needed to know everything so this must've been a shock for her.

I contemplated her question for a moment before shrugging my shoulders.

"Lady, I'm just a traveller. Nothing more."

I didn't give her a response before I walked past her.

"Where are you going?" I heard her ask from behind me.

I stopped in my tracks.

"I don't know."

I had tried to deny it up to that point. Sure, I thought I was going to beacon to try and sign up, but with what experience, what weapon? I had very little tools to change anything and I'd be dead before I tried. I had no idea why I was chosen, but it was the wrong choice. I wasn't really anything other than one of the other needs with a fantasy, and much like the others would, I had no idea what to do in that situation.

I continued my tread up to the house and went in. I gathered up my things and my pack to make my way out.

As I was walking out the door, I got stopped by her once again. She had a pack slung over her shoulder and a sword around her waist.

I raised an eyebrow at her.

"I don't know what it is about you but I want to see what you do. You have proven you will be a very interesting person to get to know."

My eyebrows scrunched in confusion and I told her to stay there.

"Don't even try that on me. I've made up my mind and someone has to make sure the Grimm don't get your considering how I almost killed you when you first got here."

I couldn't find it in myself to argue.

"Well, let's go then."

As we were walking into the woods my chest went cold.

Her parents were going to kill me.

This was going to be fun.


End file.
